Mail-bag



(No Model.) 2 sheets-41mm '1. W. ROEMER.

MAIL BAG.

No. 374,323. Patented Dec. 6, 1887..

- WITNESSES %NVENTOB;':-

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2, W. ROEMER.

(N0 MOdel.)

MAILBAG.

Patented D33. 6, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFrcn.

WILLIAM ROEMER, on NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MAIL-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,323, dated December 6, 1887.

Application filed February 11, 1887. Serial No. 227,245. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM ROEMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bags; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,'clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification,

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of mail-bags illustrated in United States Patents Nos. 134,357, 210,338,

328,034, and 348,965, the object being to provlde a device of greater simplicity and neatness of construction, a more positive operation of parts in closing the bag, greater durability, and general adaptability forlhe purposes for which it is intended.

The invention consists inthc improved mailbag and in the arrangement and combination of parts thereof, substantially as will be here inafter set forth, and finally embodied in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the two sheets, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a plan of the improved bag. Figs. 2 and 3 are re spectively a plan and side elevation of a certain catch for holding the opposite sides of the bag together, which catch serves as a coupling means for uniting certain frame-sections, the two parts of the catch being shown in engagement. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken through line X, Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is asection through line Y, same figure. Fig. 6, Sheet 2, is a side elevation of the improved mailbag; and Fig. 7 is a plan of the same, showing the mouth or opening thereof closed.

In said drawings, A indicates the body of the bag, which is preferably of leather and is of any ordinary construction. At the mouth or opening in said bag is arranged a metal frame formed of flat metal straps or sections B B B B, to which the leather body of the bag is suitably riveted,the upper edge of the bodyleather being turned to lie on the upper face of said straps, so that the downward draft caused by the weight of the bag and its contents bears on the edges of said straps and relieves the rivets, so that the danger of tearing away is greatly reduced. The said straps or sections are so disposed and connected in the frame as to form, when the bag is open to receive or allow the reniovalof the letters, a quadrangular opening, and the frame will lie hori zontally with respect to the vertically-disposed body. Said frame sections or straps B B and B B are arranged in pairs, as in Fig. 1, which pairs are at the sides or lateral edges of the bag, as at G 0, connected, the outer ends of the straps B B overlapping those of the opposite straps, B B, so as to allow the said pair of straps or sections B B to pass beneath the said opposite straps or sections,B B,in closing the bag.

In the prior devices above referred to, where the sections corresponding with those herein marked B B passed beneath opposite sections corresponding with those herein marked B B, the sections of each of the pairs were pivoted at the center of the bag on single pivots, the said sections overlapping at their inner or central ends, and the central pivots of the pairs when the bag was closed lying vertically in line, or end to end. The outer ends of the sections were riveted together, asherein described. By this construction the section B and its opposite section, B, when the two were lying the one over the other, could not lie parallel, but formed a tapering opening between said sections, which widened as it approached the center of the bag, where the opening was about the width of the thickness of the framesections, producing a joint unpleasant to the eye, and therefore objectionablein the market. To avoid this unsightlyjoint and cause the overlying sections to lie parallel one with the other when lying one over the other, I have pivoted the central ends of the sections upon independent pivots of the catch, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The catch consists of co-operating'members D E, adapted to engage one another in any suitable manner to hold the sides of the bag at their central joints'together, either alone or with the aid of a padlock, as hereinafter provided for, the construction being preferably as shown,in which the male memberD 0f the catch is provided with a hasp or tongue andthe female member with an eye, hole, or receptacle for said hasp or tongue. The said catch members are provided with flanges F F, to receive the inner or central ends of the sections B B and B B, said flanges each providing two pivots to allow the said inner ends to be pivoted upon said flanges independently or separately on a single plane, as indicated. The flange of one member of the catch rests above the ends of one pair of theframe-sections,wl1ile that of the other rests on the under side of the opposite pair of said section, so that said flanges present no hinderance to the sections lying parallel, as described. From the catch members D E to the side or edge pivots, O O, the sections are rigid or unjointed, so that when the pairs are pressed together or turn on their respective centers the catching parts are more certain to engage positively than if said sections were provided with intermediate joints which would allow one of said catching parts to move laterally distant from its cooperating part, and would necessitate considerable care on the part of the person handling the bag to properly bring the members of the catch into proper operative engagement.

The co-operating members of the catch are provided with means such as a perforated tongue, G, and an eye, H, into or through which said tongue passes when the pairs are pressed together, said tongue being held in said eye by means of a suitable padlock, the bow or tongue ofwhich passes through the perforation K of said tongue. The end joints are protected by suitable end caps,L L, which may cover the rivets G G, and which are riveted to the upper sections of the frame in any ordinary manner, and the lower sections are separated from the upper slightly to allow the turned margin of the body-leather lying on the upper faces of the lower or under sections to pass beneath the upper sections. The upper member, D, of the catch is also raised slightly from the section, as in Fig. 4, to allow for said body-leather.

By the arrangement thus described the device is not only simple, cheap, and durable, butthe sections or jaws of the bag cannot separate slightly when the bag is locked and allow the letters to fall out, as it would were the sections provided with intermediate joints and adapted to close together edge to edge, instead of one under the other, as herein shown.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- The improved mail-bag herein described, combining therein a body, A, two pairs of horizontal frame-sections, B B and B B, one pair of which lies in a plane parallel with the plane of the other of said pairs, the edges of the said body being turned down and riveted on the upper faces of said sections, and eo-op erating catch members D E, having flanges F F, upon the respective upper and lower sides of which the central ends of the said framesections are pivoted on independent pivots, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 7) haveherennto set my hand this 7th day of Feb ruary, 1887. V

WVM. ROEMER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, OSCAR A. M IOHEL. 

